Toothbrush



Dec. 1942- A. L. SALTZMAN I 2,304,319

TOOTHBRUSH Filed May 31, 1940 INVENTOR. Al/Gl/Sff L. 8402M ATTORNEY;

Patented Dec. 8, 1942.

'roo'rmnwsu Auguste L. Saltzman, Orange, N. 1., assignor toBristol-Myers Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of DelawareApplication May 31, 1940, Serial No. 338,011

3 Claims.

The invention relates to toothbrushes; and particularly to improvementsin the handles to such brushes.

An object of the invention is to provide a handie having grippingportions which are so disposed with relation to the head of the brush asto facilitate manipulation of the brush by either hand in massaging thegums. and in brushing downwardly over the upper teeth and upwardly overthe lower teeth.

. Another object is to provide toothbrush in which gripping surfaces onthe handle are so disposed with reference to the disposition of the headof the brush and the working face of the bristlesas to present thebristles correctly to the surfaces to be brushed, with a natural, un-

strained position of the fingers and wrist, irre- ,spective of whetherthe brush is held in the right hand Orin the lefthand.

Another object is to provide'a toothbrush handle which is so constructedas to permit rotary movement of the handle about its longitudinal axisto be imparted by the thumb and fingers with little or no wrist action.

A particular feature of my brush resides in the symmetrical arrangementaround the longi-- tudinal axis of the handle, of more than tworelatively broad gripping surfaces disposed at acute angles to the planeof the working surface of the brush.

The accompanying drawing illustrates certain typical embodiments of theinvention. Figs. 1 and 2 are side and back views, respectively, of a Thehead I0 is of substantially flat, elongatedform, 'and carries aplurality of transversely projecting bristle tufts I2. The flat sides ofthe head, or the central plane which is parallel to one or the other ofthe sides (1. e., at right angles to the plane of the drawing designatedFig. 1) will be referred to herein, and in the appended claims, as theplane of the head. The. ends of the tufts may lie ina generally flatplane, as so shown, or in a curved or irregular plane, and reference tothe plane of the working face of the brush is to be understood asdenoting a flat plane which contains the ends of the tufts or whichcomes the closest to containing the ends of all the tufts.

The edges of the head 10 may fiare outwardly toward the right as viewedin Fig. 2, to the points l3, where they taper inwardly to form a neck H.The axis of the handle II is substantially straight, and the handle hasa gripping portion l-5 provided with four gripping surfaces I6symmetrically arranged around the longitudinal axis of the handle intheform of a diamond or square prism. The surfaces It are disposed atacute anlcs to the plane of the head It or to the plane of the workingface of the brush. In my preferred construction each of these grippingsurfaces is disposed at approximately 45 to the plane of the workingface. Depressions ll of arcuate form, or other gripping means, assist ininsuring a comfortable, sure grip on the handle. The gripping surfacesii are of substantial area, and are co-extensive in the longitudinaldirection so that the brush can be'rotated back and forth around thelongitudinal axis by the action of the thumb and fingers with little orno wrist-action. The centers of the gripping surfaces l6 are equidistantfrom the head l0, so that, upon the aforesaidrotary movement, the thumband fingers successively grip different sides of the prism withoutdimculty and without substantial change in longitudinal position of thegrip.

The end' l8 of the handle may be of any suit- 'able configuration, and,as shown, is of square cross section, tapering down from the edge of thegrip ii at first sharply, and then more gradually, terminating in arounded tip i9. l

, The brush shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is similar to that which has beendescribed with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, having a grippingportion 20 which is the same as the grip ii of the first embodiment,except that the depressions I! are omitted. The end 2| of the handlealso is of modified construction, being of flattened form and arrangedsubstantially in the plane of the head Ill. The form of the end of thhandle is, of course, subject to considerable variation while retainingthe principal objects and advantages of my invention.

In the form of handle shown in Fig. 7, the gripping portion is offrusto-pyramidal form and tapers into the end 23 in a manner to providenaturally to the left side of the teeth, or 90 in the opposite directionso as to present the bristles naturally to the right side of the teeth.By a simple manipulation with the thumb and fingers, and withoutsubstantial wrist action, the brush can be turned back and forth betweeneither of these positions and .that shown in Fig. 7 so as to brushupwardly over the lower teeth on either side and downwardly over theupper teeth, and

to partially rotate the brush for massaging the gums. The same actioncan be performed with the left hand, so the brush is equally well suitedto brushing all of the teeth with either hand. The edges of theprismatic gripping portion assist in the rotary motion about the handleaxis, and the flat sides serve, in effect, as stops to bring the workingface into proper position for the beginning and end of each stroke. Thisis true whether the brush is rotated by finger action or by wristaction. v

The terms and expressions which Ihave employed are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the useof such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of thefeatures shown and described or portions thereof; but recognize thatvarious modifications are possible within the scope of the inventionclaimed.

I claim:

1. A toothbrush having a substantially flat, elongated head and asubstantially straight handie, the head and handle being connected endto end and having a common longitudinal axis, the head having bristletufts, the ends of the tufts providing a working face, and the handlehaving a gripping section consisting of four gripping portionssymmetrically arranged around said axis I in a common transversesection, all of the gripping portions in said common transverse sectionbeing arranged in planes which make acute angles with said working face,the width of each gripping portion being substantially equal to the fullwidth of the handle whereby they present broad surfaces serving as stopsto bring the working face into proper position for the beginning and endof each rotation stroke about said axis.

2. A toothbrush having a substantially flat, elongated head and anelongated handle, the head and handle being connected end to end, thehandle having a four-sided gripping portion which is substantiallysquare in cross section with four sharply-defined comers, each of thesides of the square being disposed at an angle of approximately withrespect to the plane of the head, and each side of the gripping portionbeing of substantial width and meeting adjacent gripping portions at anangle of substantially whereby the gripping portions serve as stops tobring the head of the brush into proper position for the beginning andend of each rotative stroke. I

3. A toothbrush having a substantially fiat, elongated head and anelongated handle, the

head and handle being connected end to end,

